Volume 39, No 1, 2017, Pages 120-128
Film Thickness Formation in Nanoscale due to Effects of Elastohydrodynamic, Electrostatic and Surface force of Solvation and Van der Waals
Author:
DOI: 10.24874/ti.2017.39.01.13
Abstract:
The mechanism of oil film with a thickness in the nanoscale is discussed in this paper. A polar lubricant of propylene carbonate is used as the intervening liquid between contiguous bodies in concentrated contacts. A pressure caused by the hydrodynamic viscous action in addition to double layer electrostatic force, Van der Waals inter-molecular forces, and solvation pressure due to inter-surface forces is considered in calculating the ultrathin lubricating films. The numerical solution has been carried out, using the Newton-Raphson iteration technique, applied for the convergence of the hydrodynamic pressure. The results show that, at separations beyond about five molecular diameters of the intervening liquid, the formation of a lubricant film thickness is governed by combined effects of viscous action and surface force of an attractive Van der Waals force and a repulsive double layer force. At smaller separations below about five molecular diameters of the intervening liquid, the effect of solvation force is dominant in determining the oil film thickness.
Keywords:
Ultra-thin films Elastohydrodynamics, Solvation, Van der Waals’ force, Electrostatic force